A Dangerous Business
by Mobi Cobbult
Summary: Set between seasons 3 and 4. There might be a plot that is being shamelessly imitated. At least until I decide to stray from it. Hopefully I diguise it well. There are several loose ends the show never tied up that intrigued me.
1. Prologue: Walking Out Your Front Door

_A/N I don't own Chuck._

_Another A/N: In hindsight this prologue really is unnecessary. You can skip it and lose nothing of the story, or it might be better simply to read it as a oneshot. The intent was to create a humorous way of showing that the story was taking place in between season 3 and season 4 so that I didn't need to make an authors note explaining this: Chuck quit spying because of Ellie yet still spying on his own, following up his dad's work. Chuck and Sarah are finally together as a couple but Sarah and Casey are off saving the world without him. However, this epilogue kinda flopped because I screwed up my buymore timeline, think something things happened at the end of Chapter 3 that were actually at the end of chapter 2. So now, you've read the A/N i didn't want to have to write, feel free to skip to the first real chapter, or read the following one in good humor. Carry On._

**A Dangerous Business**

Prologue: Going Out of Your Door

"Chuck quit." The statement, riding on a sigh of disbelief, came out of nowhere, lifting the eerie silence that had settled in the van for the past hour.

"Hmm." The grunt held a touch of sardonic humor and a touch of... something else. "That was something to watch though wasn't it? He walked right up to the short, squeaky voiced tyrant and said he wouldn't do it anymore. I still can't believe he pulled that off."

The silence attempted to settle back in and was beginning to make itself comfortable.

"Do you worry about what will happen to us? You know- After all this is over?"

"All what is over?"

"This... All this... The sitting for hours in the back of a van watching dark parking lots for threats. The constant eye on the rear-view mirror to see if we've lost everyone who might be tailing us. At some point it will end, right? And where will we be? Dead? Or locked away in some prison where no one will remember we even exist. Or do we just wake up one day and find our life is mostly over and we've done nothing with it but peer through these damned night vision goggles and watch it slip away."

A clamor filled the van as the discarded night vision equipment bounced off the floor of the van tumbling into the back doors.

"Hey! Careful! Those were expensive!"

Ignoring the interruption the monologue continued, "And for what? Because of one decision we made back when we were too young to know any better? When we thought our actions were noble. When we thought we could stand against the injustice of the world and make a difference! But no. Ideals, intentions, noble-icity... It all went up in smoke pretty quick didn't it."

"Well," a hesitant voice responded, "it takes time to make a thing go right."

Quiet filled the van.

"Two."

Silence.

"Two what?"

"'It takes two to make a thing go right'! Come on, even you should know that!"

Another pause.

"Well, it takes time to tango."

"Are you... I mean what... how does that even relate? Never mind, I don't care. I mean look at Chuck. He's going to go somewhere. He got out before it was too late and he'll make something of himself."

"Well, he also...hold up! Shh shh shh! Hand me the night vision! There's someone..."

Through the cracked lens a bright green figure could be seen hurdling a darker green hedge and sprinting into the parking lot. Glancing backwards it tripped over a parking stop, as gun shots rang out from the direction it had come. Tucking, rolling and somehow ending up on its feet again, the figure barreled toward the direction of the van.

"Holy... I think that's Chuck!"

"What? Why would he be here? How can you possibly tell? He's wearing a ski mask?"

"Trust me, I would know that sensual shape of that mouth anywhere?"

"Mm hmm"

The man darted past the van, sprinted across the street and ducked down into the ditch running along side the road. On the far side of the parking lot, where he had first appeared, several large, angry looking men now tore through the hedge brandishing a formidable arsenal of sidearms.

"Ack, we've been made! Lets get out of here!"

Swimming through a sea of empty beer cans and subway cups, Lester pulled himself up into the driver's seat, turned the key and squealed out of the parking. Behind him, wide-eyed and unmoving, Jeff opted to stay sitting on the floor of the van with his open 6 pack, and panic in his own, time-tested manner. The bewildered guards came to a halt and stared after the strange van fleeing the parking lot, wondering if there could possibly be any reason they should follow.

* * *

><p><strong>AN So I was trying to establish the setting for the story as taking place at the beginning of Season 4 and this happened. No, its not going to be a story primarily about Jeffster. Yes it will eventually support the summary's claims. Yes it will revolve around the usual suspects: Chuck, Sarah, Casey, Grimes, and maybe even Bryce? But I liked what turned up so far so I will let it sit here to be read while I work out the rest of the story.**

**And before you ask, "How could a story set at the beginning of Season 4 involve Bryce?" I will believe that Jack Wagon is truly dead when Fedak exhumes his verified remains and has them tested to show the amount of decomposition is indeed consistent with the amount of time that has passed since his second supposed burial.**

**Hopefully I was able to deceive you into thinking Sarah and Casey were musing over spylife before the reveal. Question: Was Lester's dialogue true to his melodramatic character while still a convincing "Sarah-wondering-about-being-a-real-girl" possibility? Or was it too rambly to fit either of them well?**


	2. Things That Should Not've Been Forgotten

_A/N First real chapter of this story and after my chronological faux pas in the prologue I'm feeling a bit less confident than I did going into the story. Thanks for the reviews I got from the last chapter. When you figure out the crossover and feel the need to criticize my lack of originality go ahead and PM me rather than drop it as a spoiler in the review for those few whom I might be able to keep unawares for a bit longer. _

_Like everyone else on this site, I've failed to acquire possession of Chuck._

* * *

><p><strong>A Dangerous Business<strong>

Chapter 1: Things That Should Not Have Been Forgotten

Glancing over his shoulder one last time to make sure he wasn't still followed, Chuck trotted up to the yellow eyesore. Opening the door he dropped onto the passenger seat, leaned his head back and let out a sigh.

Click-click. Click-click. "Wanna tell me about it?" Morgan asked, depressing and releasing the top of his pen with a concerned look on his face.

"Nothing to tell, Morgan. Another dead end."

"Nothing?

Hey, come on, we'll find her Chuck." Concern lacing his voice, he tried to cheer his best friend up. " There are plenty more files we haven't even started to investigate yet in your dad's base... uh basement.. um.. subterranean-librarial lair. I'll drop you off at base and head back to the Buy More."

"Librarial lair?"

"Yeah well you know. As underground lairs go a basement full of file boxes and laptops is a little less than awe inspiring. Although, you know, the lasers and secret opening help. I'm just saying once you get past the location, the actual base is lacking a certain... I don't know... lairesque charm?" Morgan shrugged turning over the ignition.

Swinging his chucks off the asphalt into the car, Chuck closed the door with another sigh. "You want to just take us back to the apartment? I'll buy you a six of grape soda and we can burn the rest of the night gaming."

"Still haven't heard from Sarah, have you?" At Chuck's head shake he continued sympathetically. "I'm sorry, man. Look, I have to get back to the Buy More tonight. Mike is dropping by. I know, weird, right? He said he has something he needs to give to me, now that I'm managing the Buy More. Call me crazy but I could swear he almost sounded cryptic about it. Of course, everything seems cryptic about this new Buy More. Which reminds me, by the way, Beckman was on me again about getting you to come back, and I don't think she just meant the Buy More."

Chuck rolled his eyes. Beckman. "Alright, Morgan, I understand. Just drop me off at the apartment. I can't handle anymore searching for dead end clues about mom tonight."

"Dude, I will be back as soon as I can get this thing with Mike out of the way. Then we will drown your sorrows in a vicious FPS/Redbull cocktail, ok? Trust me. Fifteen minutes of Morgan and you'll forget all about not having seen your crazy ninja girl in over, wait.. what's it been, 3 weeks now? And then two weeks before that. And only one evening she was able to make it home? Wow, that's gotta be rough!"

"Thanks, Morgan."

* * *

><p>The doors to the dimly lit retail store slid open to allow the large, cautious man entrance. As he made his way back to the manager's office Big Mike looked around in uncharacteristic, near paranoia. Cradling a laptop case with two arms he slipped through the door with one last look back at the store entrance and approached the desk. "Hello, Son."<p>

"Hey...Mike." Drawing out the new arrivals name in another futile attempt to disassociate himself from any familial tie with the older man, Morgan drew a foot out of the warm soak that was his current source of relaxation, and assaulted it with a towel. "So what have you got for me, and why did we have to do this tonight?"

He glanced at the short lightsaber on his clock that had reached its apex and was starting its downward trek. "Or rather this morning?"

"Call me papa", Mike gently chided as he placed the case on the desk top and unzipped it. "I've held on to this since Emmett disappeared. It was in the safe when I took over the store again and I thought the store would need it some time soon. Now that you're following in your Big Daddy's footsteps, I think you should have it."

He pulled a black laptop unlike any Morgan had seen before, from its case. The blackest of black, Morgan couldn't help but wonder if Emmett had stolen it from Hotblack Desiato. Shaking his head to lose the entertaining image that came to mind, Morgan moved over to study the laptop more closely, the forgotten undried foot trailing water and scented epson salt around the desk.

"Frankly, son, I am glad to be rid of it. The thing gives me the heebiejeebies. Something about it is just _unnatural_."

The orb set in the middle of the lid glowed a dark, wicked red. Black "RI" centered on the orb in a thin, closely set font gave the uncanny appearance of a cat-like pupil gazing out of a red eye and staring straight through him. Morgan involuntarily shuddered and was immediately annoyed with himself for getting caught up with Big Mike's unexplained wariness. "You know, Mike. For having run a Buy More for so many years its a little strange how everything technological gives you the willies."

"It's _unnatural,_ son! Men weren't meant to stare into little boxes all day playing their little games. They should be outside in a boat, throwing a line into the water, waiting for God's sweet nature to grab a hold of the other end and dance." Big Mike's eyes held an euphoric shine as his mind wandered to some lake or river or puddle of some bygone year.

"But this, this is beautiful." Morgan's awestruck voice brought Mike's mind back to the object in front of them. The two of them losing themselves for a moment in the red orb that gazed back at them unblinking. "You said this was Emmett's?"

"No, this has always been Buy More's!" Big Mike's response was indignant. "Emmett must have _stole_ this from Buy More and blamed it on the Beverly Hills branch."

"Wait, _this_ is the Roark 7?" It didn't look at all like the laptop he had played with in Jeff's office.

Flipping it over Big Mike pointed at the labeling on the back. Amidst serial numbers, validation stickers, reinstall verification codes for the latest Roark operating system and, no doubt, a proverbial 'butt load' of bloatware, the identification clearly declared itself to be the Roark Industries R7 laptop. What ever had become of that product launch anyhow?

He must have vocalized his confusion because he heard Big Mike replying.

"With the disappearance of Roark and the ensuing power struggle attempting to restructure RI, it must have just been put on the back burner for now. I figure though, if Roark ever does get its act back together, Buy More definitely will want to have one of the few released R7's to show the public when they finally launch."

"Well, son. I'd best be getting back to your mamma. You know she can't stand to have me out of her sight when the nights get cold and lonely."

Morgan shuddered and walked back around the desk as he heard the door close behind Big Mike. Sloshing his soak as he carried it to the nearest sink, he managed to keep almost half of it off the carpet. As he put back on his shoes and socks, he took one last look at the R7. He ought to head straight back to the apartment to rescue Chuck from the funk that Sarah's extended absence in Hong Kong on top of his current mom-quest failure were causing. He had an irresistible urge however to pop the hood real quick and see just what the R7 was working with. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes, he thought, as he reached into his drawer for a set of screw drivers and an anti-static wrist wrap.

Five minutes later, the battery was out, the back was off and Morgan was looking down perplexed at the sight in front of him. "What the..." He might not be a lead nerd herder, but he had thought he at least knew what the basic components of a computer would look like. But for some of these parts he had no clue as to what they would accomplish. "...Chuck!" Chuck would know and he had left Chuck alone for too long tonight already. What kind of best friend was he anyhow?

Moments later he had the laptop back in its case, the Buy more locked up and had pulled out of the parking lot heading home.

A half block away a set of headlights came to life, and Loretta fell in, unnoticed, behind him.

* * *

><p><em>AN This being my first attempt at writing chuckfic I have questions. Quite a few questions actually, so if there is someone out there with good experience that might volunteer to beta/field my questions let me know. I debated whether or not to let this go yet. I figure with this chapter I might gain or lose the majority of readers. I know myself if I have to read more than two chapters and still haven't been sucked into a story, I probably won't come back to it. I had a bit more planned for this chapter but this grew faster than I thought it would and I've run out of time for the weekend. My wife said she thought it was worth posting as-is, but then, my wife loves me and says all kinds of things that make me feel good about myself._

_So for future reference. Is it better to hold off several more days and post a longer chapter with more action and a wider scope of story (i.e bringing in a major character or two and geographically affecting more than the buymore) or is it better to publish a shorter less involved chapter sooner? _


	3. Keep It Secret

Chapter 2. Keep It Secret

* * *

><p><em>AN I don't own Chuck, Nvidia, Intel or Apple. Netflix was able to get me the final DVD of season 4 last night so I was able to finish seeing it in time for season 5 to start tonight. Without saying exactly why lest I spoil things for people, let me say the twist at the end nearly caused me to abandon this story all together. I've decided to press on but I'm having a hard time being as excited with my plot as I originally was because I originally thought I was.. well.. original._

_Just a reminder then. I started writing this in between seaons 3 and 4 for me. So its supposed to be AU from 4.1 on._

* * *

><p><strong>A Dangerous Business<strong>

Chapter 2: Keep it Hidden

Chuck looked up from purple deck of cards he was rifling through when the door to the apartment cracked open and the familiar bearded face peeked in.

"Hey Morgan" His disinterested voice carried across the living room as his eyes returned to the deck he was stacking.

"Hey Chuck, sorry I took so long but my meeting with Mike was.. huh.. surprisingly interesting." He let himself in the rest of the way, the exited grin he'd been unable to contain freezing on his face as his eyes took in the green deck on table opposite Chuck, his buddy flipping absently through the other deck in his hand, and the bottle of Johnny Black in the middle. Noting the bottle was still mostly full, he breathed his relief and approached the table. "Really? Netrunner? Against yourself? Wow, quite the funk tonight, huh?"

"No." Chuck tossed the cards in his hand onto the table not caring that they scattered across it. "I mean yes... I mean... I saw them in the closet and thought maybe I'd rearrange my corporate strategy. I don't know. Just trying to distract myself, I guess."

"Your corporate strategy that you haven't thought about since high school? Wow, Sarah needs to get home quick." He brushed the the cards out of the way and plopped the laptop case on the table. "But in the mean time. You need a distraction, and I've got one for you."

"New laptop?" Chuck raised an eyebrow. " Taking advantage of the perks of upper management are we?"

"No. Well maybe. Big Mike gave me this tonight. Apparently, Emmett swiped it from the Buy More and Mike's been holding onto it since Emmett's.. um.. demise."

Pushing back from the table, Chuck got wearily to his feet. "Look Morgan, as intrigued as a I am with the shady details of corporate espionage between Buy More management, I'll have to tackle this 'distraction' tomorrow. It's been a long night."

"Ok. So it doesn't really matter who stole what from whom. The point is: Mike gave me this new toy and I took it apart... and I'm sorry because I know I said I'd be right back.. but I didn't think it would take long, and I just had to see what made the _Roark 7_ so special." Morgan wasn't disappointed as he watched to see if the emphasized words made any impact on his technology addicted friend.

"And what did you find?" The bored tone was back as Chuck, not willing to let go of a good "Mopey Chuck Funk" just yet, tried to still appear uninterested in anything except screw the cap back on the bottle.

"Well, I'm not sure. I was hoping you could tell me. I know I'm not exactly prime Nerd Herd material, but this hardware here," by this point Morgan had the laptop out and the battery off and was working on the back of the case. "isn't anything I've ever seen before."

"It's probably just an S.E.P. Roark put in there to keep the competition from snooping around in their new hardware designs. We can look at it tomorrow morning before work if you still care." Chuck put the bottle in the cabinet, set the glass in the sink and forgetting that he was feigning boredom, he walked back to look over Morgans shoulder as the inner workings of the latest and greatest gaming laptop the world had yet to see were revealed.

"An S.E.P?" Morgan set the casing aside and looked up to see an amused glint in his best friend's eye. "Oh right. Ha. You're very funny."

Despite the sarcastic retort, Morgan Grimes was pleased with himself. There were very few things in this world that he would consider himself an expert on, but Chuck Bartowski was one of them. And if he knew anything, which he did, Mopey Chuck was gone and Nerdy Tech-struck Chuck was hooked. Mission accomplished.

Hooked and confused, Morgan soon realized. Chuck moved over to the chair next to Morgan and spun the computer to get a closer look. Brow furrowed, and Morgan forgotten, Chuck lost himself in the maze of circuitry and silicon.

"This right here" Chuck said pointing. "Is just not right. It certainly looks like it should be handling some heavy video processing, but RI has been able to integrate all its graphics processing efficiently on the cpu chip for several years now. So my first thought would be maybe a dedicated PhysX processor except that RI has also been bragging about its ability to incorporate that efficiently within the GPU. If they needed a dedicated PhysX or GPU in their latest and greatest I'm sure Nvidia and Intel would be quick to point it out. But its definitely some sort of video adapter..."

Chuck trailed off, lost in a whirlwind of speculation and suspicion. Roark had been working with subliminal imaging after all. They had been trying to make an intersect for Fulcrum. Could this be tied into that? Why would anything intersect related, or Fulcrum for that matter, be in a gaming laptop meant for public consumption?

"And this," Chuck went on, focusing for this first time at the other puzzling piece of hardware. His eyes rolled back up into his head and his face took on that 'constipated/concentrating too hard while eating warheads look.' "... this is an RI47TS GPS transponder. Designed by Roark. Initially distributed to Fulcrum but after they disbanded they've been bought up by almost every shady organization with the money to spend on it. Oh. CIA and NSA not excluded apparently."

He shook off the flash.

"Now why would Roark want to be able to track their gaming computers. Especially since this is only active when..." Chuck followed the power lead to a button on the right side of the laptop. "this is turned on."

Chuck glanced over at Morgan on the off chance that he might have something useful to contribute to the speculation. Morgan, however, had his bearded cheeks resting in his palms and his eyelids closed. Apparently, he was somewhere between sleep and conscious, but close enough to conscious that the subsequent silence registered and he snapped his head up out of his hands and looked around. "Sorry," he grinned sheepishly. " I think you lost me somewhere around 'is just not right'."

Chuck sighed and settled back into his chair. His eyes falling to the back of the case that had been removed and set off to the side. The install validation code for the Operating System tugged at his attention for some reason. It brought back not-so-fond memories of his failure in trying to infiltrate Roark Industries and stop its launch. He remembered his desperate grab and run, the ensuing chase, the closeline, and the OS being launched while he lay there on the ground. Nothing had ever come of that though really. No major catastrophe. What was the big scare all about? It had slipped into the realm of inconsequential things forgotten. But it was what was driving this laptop. Was that just coincidence? Strange hardware, and strange software combined for … for what?

"Morgan. I've got to go check something out. Put that thing back together but don't use it, and don't show it to anyone. Keep it secret."

Morgans face went deadly serious. "Keep it safe?"

"Exactly."

Chuck walked out the door.

* * *

><p>He couldn't help but lose himself in old memories as he padded down the empty halls. It wasn't that he held any real attachment to the place, it was just that his whole experience here had been a puzzle he'd never been able to sort out. Not one of those "rob your life of direction" kind of puzzles. Just a "what the hell was that all about" kind of puzzle. He stole past the room where the awkward interview had been held. Seriously, who sat around on bouncing balls giving interviews anyway. Even Apple didn't try <em>that <em>hard to look trendy.

He skirted by the auditorium where the count down and subsequent chase had gone down. He still wasn't sure what Jeff and Lester had been doing there or why they'd tried to help, but it hadn't really mattered in the end. The launch went on a few minutes later than scheduled and in intense, Y2K fashion, the universe failed to collapse on itself as a result. In fact, the only negative consequence really had been the sore back he'd nursed for several days, after his great escape came to an anticlimactic end in a vicious clothesline on the stairs.

He found himself in secured vault, at last. It only took him a few moments to find the files he was looking for. He plugged in the thumb drive and began uploading the source code for the Roark OS release. It felt a bit eerie attempting to solo the mission that his team had failed before. The late hour facilitated the infiltration of nostalgic loneliness as relived the past in his mind. He missed team Chuck.

He reached over to grab the thumb drive from the server. He would take him home where he could examine it for any oddities that might explain the purpose of the strange hardware in the laptop. Glancing at the screen he stopped. The upload was not quite finished yet The file was a lot bigger than he expected, apparently.

Voices from the far end of the hall served to surprise him yet again. What was anyone doing here at this hour. From what he'd understood, after the 'disappearance' of Teddy, R.I. facilities were barely maintaining skeleton crews during office hours while the company was trying to re-evaluate its existence.

The voices grew louder as they neared the vault. He released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding when they continued down the hall, not noticing the vault still cracked open. They were moving at a hurried clip, and while he couldn't make out what they were saying, he could certainly hear the urgency in their voices. None of his business really. That had been too close. He just needed to grab the source code, get back to the car, and not get caught.

Chuck glanced at his completed upload, hesitated just a second, then, pocketing the thumbdrive hurried off in pursuit of the urgent voices.

He followed them until they went mute with the click of door latching shut. Easing his way around the corner he quickly moved to the only door with light showing under it. Wincing at the 'click' the door made as the latch released under his hand he cracked the door and glanced inside. No one had heard it. The room was larger than your typical office. The eastern wall was entirely a window and through it he could see the first hints of sunrise. The room was occupied by five men staring intently at one of many screens that graced the non-widow walls and 'Urgent Voice' sounded insistent.

"...shouldn't be any new tracking targets as we haven't sent anything out since Roark's dissappearance."

"Actually, this is the same one that disappeared a while back in Burbank. It came back online about 7 minutes ago. It's been stationary so far and is coming out of … Echo Park, Los Angeles. I'm calling in a clean up crew to handle it."

Echo Park? Morgan! Chuck pried the icy fingers of fear away from his heart away and willed himself into action. Spinning away from the door he let it click shut again as he pulled up Morgan's number on his phone.

* * *

><p><em>AN Is the pace too slow? Is there too much technobable? Somebody help me here. Is it taking me too long to set up the plot?_

_ I hope to get what was supposed to be the rest of this chapter finished up and on the boards by tomorrow at the latest. I just have this Jeffster convo I have to write for it yet and my mind isn't making the switch at the moment. Which is surprising because so far I've actually found chuck dialogue harder to nail than jeffster. Jeffster has been a constant. Chuck has evolved so much in the show and then on top of that I've read so many versions of Chuck and Sarah on here its hard for me to nail down begining of season 4 canonical Chuck/Sarah. On top of that I'm reworking an action scene. (Yes, someone will fight someone else by the end of this next chapter) and I've got my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it. I'm swamped._

_And for those who aren't reading it because Sarah isn't here, I promise to at least mention her name once next chapter. Hows that :P_


	4. Keep It Safe

_A/N I don't own chuck._

_I am finally posting this chapter. It was pretty much done the same time as the last chapter, however season 5 has been messing with my mind. In this story Morgan plays a larger role than in most stories, however watching Morgan as the douchersect has made me like the story quite a bit less. I never realized how hard it is for all you writers to keep your characters in character, as the show is changing the characters and the way we feel about them. _

_So a reminder, this is pre season 4. Chuck is out of the spy business (officially) and Morgan is his trusty Alfred so to speak. And I will be trying to rework some (but not all) of my future chapters out of Morgan's POV and into someone else's. Read on, MacDuff. (yes I know. thats a misquote of a misquote. I also don't own Billy Shakespeare)_

* * *

><p><strong>A Dangerous Business<strong>

Chapter 3: Keep It Safe

"Why didn't we follow Chuck again?"

The heavier of the two black clad figures huddling by the Morgan door was agitated. It had been well over forty five minutes now since he had introduced any foreign substance into his body and, frankly, his body felt neglected.

"While I agree that Chuck is certainly the more... pleasant individual to stalk, believe me I do, there is something more sinister here that demands our … expertise." Lester, stroking his chin, turned back to look through the window again. "Late night meetings with Big Mike at that creepy new Matel Factory they called a Buy More. Smuggling suspicious packages to his personal residence.

" Morgan, Morgan, what _are_ you up to?"

"And he did hide the albino hedgehog under his bed sheet before turning out the lights."

"I'm pretty sure that didn't happen. He's been in bed long enough to fall asleep, its our civic duty to get in there and figure out what he's hiding."

"And to free any pigmentationally challenged wildlife he might be holding hostage."

Ignoring Jeff should have come natural by now, but Lester still took a moment's pause to consider the accusation before working the Morgan door open and slipping into Chuck and Morgan's apartment. Jeff stared a bit at what appeared to be a scrabble piece on the ground under a bush and followed Lester inside mumbling. "I guess sometimes it really is unavoidable."

Moving with more stealth than one would have thought him capable of, Lester crept into Morgan's room, up to his bed, and began to slip the laptop out from under the pillow that was half covering it.

Morgan's head dropped a bit when gravity and natural law filled the space the laptop had been occupying underneath him, and Lester paused. When Morgan's snoring continued uninterrupted, Lester tiptoed over to the desk and plugged in the laptop, turning it on.

Jeff stumbled into the bedroom as the screen lit up, staggered over to the bed and ripped the sheet from Morgan's bed. "Be free!"

Whipping his head over at the commotion Lester cried out, "Jeff! What are you... AGH my eyes!" and swung his eyes back to the computer screen.

Jeff only nodded approvingly. His voice was bewildered though, as he murmured, "Free indeed. Where do _you_ think it could have hidden?"

A knock at the door killed whatever response Jeff might have been hoping for. Jeff and Lester froze. The knock sounded again, louder this time, and finally managed to pierce Morgan's near comatose state and bring him back to something almost resembling consciousness. Bleary eyed he choked out something that sounded suspiciously like "a minute!" pulled on a pair of pants and made his way past Jeff, out the bedroom, to the front door.

Something was out of place here, Morgan's subconscious tried to to tell him as he started to open the door. Whatever that something was, when Morgan peered his head through the partially opened door, it was instantly filed in the "things that don't matter" bin along with subjects like, "the need to breathe as a means of sustaining life".

"Alex? What are you doing here? Not that I mind! I just.. I mean..What are you doing here?"

"Um. You promised me breakfast before your early shift this morning? You didn't forget again did you, Morgan Grimes?" Even Morgan couldn't miss the danger in that voice.

"Oh! Right! No, of course not. Just a long night and I'm still waking up, and... um... come on in." He slammed the door closed in front of her as his brain finally woke up. He remembered. He remembered he was supposed to meet with Alex for an early breakfast. He remembered he was supposed to be hiding something for Chuck, and worst of all he remembered what was out of place in his room.

He bolted into his room shouting, "Lester!" just in time to see the Canindiewish* nerdherder pressing the mysterious button on the side of the R7. He grabbed the laptop and glanced down in time to see text appear. "Installing Gaming Enhancement Mode".

* * *

><p>Lester watched in awe as Morgan's face reflected the five minutes of rapid flashing light and color bursting from the screen, followed by a baffled scrunching of said face, and a graceless collapse onto the floor.<p>

Jeff mumbled an excited "Awesome", and Morgan's phone began to vibrate angrily on the stand as Chuck's face filled the caller ID screen.

A confused Alex poked her head into the chaos with a concerned, "Morgan, what's going on?"

It took him a few seconds to recover. At least he thought it was a few seconds. At least he thought he had recovered. As he got to his feet Morgan couldn't help but think that everything seemed – off?

Alex's head was talking through the open door. "Morgan... what's... going... on?" Why was she talking so slowly. He blinked at her. He turned his head to watch as Lester seemed to creep over to Morgan's phone and pick it up "Hey... Chuck..."

He tuned out Lester. It was hard enough to pay attention to him when he was talking normal. When he was drawing out each world like this it was near impossible. Morgan looked around his room again. Alex was through the door and approaching him with a concerned look on her face. Was something wrong with him, why was she walking so slowly towards him? Jeff didn't seem to have moved but there was nothing odd there. He could stand in one place staring vacantly for almost an entire shift at Buymore, or at least until lunch. Morgan spotted the laptop again, its iconic orb pulsing brightly. That's right, he was trying to keep it safe for Chuck. Chuck! Lester was on the phone with Chuck! He was currently saying something about Bennigan's being open at this hour. Why Chuck would be interested in an open bar this early in the morning escaped him.

He reached over to grab the phone from Lester but he felt like he was dragging his limbs through molasses. Why was he moving so slow? Fortunately, it appeared he wasn't the only one. Lester tried to pull the phone out of his reach but he telegraphed every move. Morgan watched Lester tense, watched his body prepare to turn away but he felt like he had a million years to react. Even with his molasses limbs he easily snatched the phone away and brought it to his ear. "Chuck?"

"Morgan!... Listen... to... me"

Seriously? Chuck too, now? His friend's voice on the phone was perplexing. His tone spoke of urgency, but, like Alex and Lester, he dragged out every syllable, taking forever to get out a sentence.

"Chuck, out with it, man. What's going on?" Weird. Apparently he had developed the same speech impediment.

"Shut down the laptop, Morgan," The panic in Chuck's voice made listening to his slow speech all the more infuriating. " And get out of there right now."

Morgan was confused. Morgan didn't know why his world moved in slow motion. Morgan didn't know why Chuck was panicked. But one thing Morgan did know was that he trusted Chuck. Chuck was panicked and Chuck needed Morgan to act. Morgan acted. He slammed the lid on the laptop closed and his world rushed back to real time. He heard Chuck's voice speed up on the other end of the phone as Morgan tossed the laptop into its case, delighted to see his arms moving at their normal pace.

"Morgan, there are some bad people coming after you for turning on that laptop. You need to get out of Echo Park as fast as you can. Go with Jeff and Lester to Bennie's, and I will meet you there as soon as I can. And no matter what, do NOT turn that laptop back on again, OK? As long as it is off ..." Chuck's voice trailed of unexpectedly When he spoke again Morgan would swear it had raised a half octave. "Um.. Morgan. I've got to go."

Morgan didn't waste anymore time. There would be plenty of time to sort things out at Bennie's. He grabbed the laptop and, looking at Alex apologetically, said "C'mon guys we've got to get to Bennie's."

Jeff grinned at him knowingly as the foursome ran out the door, piled into Lorretta, and fled Echo Park.

* * *

><p>"Um Morgan. I've got to go." Chuck tensed as he recognized the cold of gunmetal touch the back of his neck. What did this say about his life, he wondered briefly, that he was familiar enough with that cold, to recognize almost instantly that it was a handgun barrel on skin? And now, he thought, comes the cliché <em>looky what we've got here<em>.

"What have we here?"

Chuck rolled his eyes. Close enough.

"Want to tell me what your doing snooping around a closed facility eavesdropping on private conversations?"

That seemed like a dumb question. Clearly what he was doing was snooping around a closed facility eavesdropping on private conversations, Chuck thought as his eyelids fluttered and images flashed through his mind. Hands raised he slowly turned around and assessed the situation. One goon had slipped through the door from the room Chuck had been spying on and was currently pointing a pistol at Chuck's head.

"Looks like we've got a spy outside our door." The voice holding the gun called back over his shoulder to the room behind him. His eyes flickered briefly in the direction he was calling and Chuck jumped into action. He dropped his hand to the man's gun pushing it out of line with his body while pressing the pin through to release the slide. Naturally it moved only a quarter inch and hung as the gun discharged the first round into the wall to his left.

"Why does that never work in real life?" Chuck briefly thought as he rolled his hand gripping the man's wrist and rotated it palm up. Stepping inside he brought his other hand across striking the elbow and the man dropped the gun in pain. Sweeping his foot behind the man's leg he planted his elbow in the man's sternum. Picking up the fallen gun as the man hit the floor he sprinted down the hallway hearing the door open behind him.

Chuck ducked left into the intersecting hallway as gunshots filled the hall he'd just vacated. Sprinting into the lobby he saw the glass in front of him spiderweb as another shot rung out behind him. He cut left toward the entrance, taking in the cracked window even as he realized there was no way he would get the doors open in time. Suddenly glad that he'd failed to disassemble the gun he pointed it at the glass doors and emptied the clip at a full sprint. Chuck lowered his shoulder and heaved himself at the weakened glass. The glass gave way under his inertia and he rolled into the parking lot with the tinkle of falling glass.

Rolling to his feet he darted passed the few parked cars as he felt a familiar buzz in his pocket. His thumb automatically found the 'accept' icon while his legs strained to make the first corner, at an angle that kept as much of the parked vehicles between himself and his pursuers as possible.

"Morgan now is _really _not a good time, buddy!"

"Well hello, Chuck. It's great to hear your voice as well."

The voice on the other end sounded more amused than he would have expected Morgan's to be in the current circumstances. It was also decidedly both more feminine and pleasant than Morgan's usually was; and it made his heart race in a way that Morgan's never did.

"Sarah?"

* * *

><p><em>AN I fulfilled my promises. Chuck fought someone. And Sarah was mentioned. Thank you very much. OK the fight seen was brief, I admit. I originally had him going into the room and fighting everyone but I wrote through the scene several times that way and each time Chuck ended up dead. I couldn't figure out a way to get him through that scenario alive even with the intersect 2.0. The bad guys were just too well spaced apart and armed. So in the end, discrection and valor and all that jazz._

_I still don't have a beta. One would be nice. I am about to stumble into unexplored territory for me so it may take me a while to write Charah in a way that makes me happy._

_I also would very much appreciate any advice or criticism that can make this story better, more readable, entertaining, etc._

* What do _you_ call a Canadian Indian Hindu Jewish person?


	5. A Little More Caution From You

_A/N: I still would love to have a beta but I don't have one. I've alot of whats, hows, whens, and wheres but several "why" holes that have me stuck for progress. So if anyone is intrested in bouncing ideas back and forth and helping smooth out my story flow (this chapter feels more disjointed than I thought it should) and just helping make my story telling all around more enjoyable to read send me a message. _

_A/N 2: Like I said I've been stuck for progress for a while, but I realized I am very hypocritical. I hate stories that I am intrested in being abandoned when I've GOT to know the ending. Seriously, it irks me to no end. So for this to have been sitting like a tell-tale heart, hidden in my hard drive for the past 3 months.. well, for the few of you that are following this one I hope getting this chapter out will help push me to finishing the first story. (And probably the second since its actually the second story that intrigues me most.)_

**A Dangerous Business**

Chapter 4: A little more caution from you

A loud crash filled the quiet Castle as Sarah burst through the door. She bounded down the stairs and tossed her mission bag unceremoniously onto her desk before collapsing into her chair and allowing her feet to follow the bag to a resting place on top of the desk. Leaning back to more easily access her phone as she fished it out of her jeans, unable to keep the grin from growing on her face, while Casey walked passed with a grunt conveying equal parts disgust, amusement and sympathy.

"Really, Walker? Can't even get your crap put away before you need to call the moron? And to think, there was a time you were considered a respectable spy."

"Watch it, Casey" She shot back with her grin now full blown, mischief dancing in her eyes. "Or I'll let Chuck know how bad _you_ missed him, too".

"For the last time! I wasn't missing him. I was just noting that an intersect would have made our lives a little easier and cut the mission time down to a fraction of what it took without it."

"Uh huh" Sarah teased, ignoring his exasperated grunt, which was only half believable anyhow. She absently waved off his offer to take her mission bag back with him to the armory while she dialed the number that she'd been needing to call for... well for way too long. She grinned at the face that appeared on the screen as the phone began to ring. Excitement and anticipation causing her to forget her exhaustion for the moment, she waited to surprise the groggy voice she expected to answer through the phone. Chuck loved surprises.

The voice on the other end was a bit more alert than she expected. _"Morgan , now is _really_ not a good time, buddy!"_

"Well hello, Chuck. It's great to hear your voice as well." She teased, glancing up conspiratorially at Casey as he entered the room again. Casey just shook his head and almost concealed the beginnings of a smile on his face as he reached into his coat for his post mission cigar while mumbling something about how little he needed to hear any lady feelings crap today, and started towards the exit stairs again.

_ "Sarah?"_

Sarah couldn't help but be a little delighted at the effect she had on him. Even over the phone he was near breathless as he spoke her name. Her grin faltered just a little and her brow furrowed in confusion. Wait a minute. He wasn't just breathless. He was out of breath.

"Chuck. Are you..? Why are you panting?"

Casey stopped mid ascent and cocked his head towards her, curious about the unexpected direction this conversation had gone.

The grin was gone now as Sarah's feet left the desk and she sat forward in her chair. "Chuck." She interrupted his rant. "Why are you out running at... What the hell, Chuck? Are those gunshots?"

Casey's eyebrows shot up and an amused, with a tinge of concern "why am a not surprised" grunt escaped his throat. Tucking away his cigar he turned back towards the armory to gear up again.

"You'd better have bought a treadmill and rented Die Hard 7!" As Walker's tone went from confused and concerned to angry and scared, Casey figured he should probably double check with her to see if he was loading out for a search and rescue mission to help Chuck or an assassination mission against him. Casey smirked. He really had missed Burbank.

* * *

><p>'Die Hard 7?' Chuck wondered with a smile. He didn't care what Sarah said, his girlfriend could be funny. Well she was trying anyhow. Of course, she could also be angry and it appeared that was rapidly becoming the case right now. In record time, too, he thought. He should probably be concerned with how good he seemed to be at generating that.<p>

"It's kinda a long story, Sarah. Wow, did I mention how good it is to hear your voice?" He wasn't trying to flatter his way out this. He really couldn't shake how great it was to hear her. He looked around taking in his surroundings before half walking, half stumbling to the car trying to catch his breath. He was pretty certain he'd lost any pursuers before doubling back to the block where he'd parked the yellow monstrosity, but he really didn't want to be wrong and have them identify the car he was using. It wasn't exactly the defining picture of inconspicuous.

_ "I've kinda got a lot of time here, Chuck."_ Sarah responded icily. Some of his sincerity must have reached her through the phone though, because it seamed her tone softened for just a bit as she added, _"It's good to hear you too, Chuck." _

Chuck climbed into the driver seat and closed the door. "I know you do, I've just.. Look I really have to get to Bennigan's and I can't afford getting pulled over for talking on the phone and driving. I'll get there, check on Morgan and call you right back ok?

_ "Are you serious?" _Whatever softness he'd imagined he'd heard was completely gone."_You're brushing me off to go to a bar? If you don't start explaining where you are and what's happening you will wish whoever was shooting at you was a better shot" _

Chuck couldn't help it. He grinned. He knew she'd hear it in his voice and it would only make her more mad but he couldn't help it. He grinned at the absurdity of the situation. Who in their right mind brushed off angry Sarah Walker and went to a bar? He grinned because he knew that right now, when she thought he was in danger, her anger was directly proportional to how much she cared about him. And he grinned because..

_ "Charles Bartowski! I can hear your stupid grin through this phone! I can promise you I am not kidding. Start talking."_

He started the car and pointed it in the direction of Benny's. "Quick version. Big Mike gave Morgan the R7. So of course I had to sneak into R.I. To try to find some answers. While I was there I stumbled upon some well armed individuals who apparently want it back and sent a team out to pick it up. I told Morgan to get out of there before they showed up and meet me at Benny's. Actually that was Lester's idea but that's not really important now. Then people started shooting at me so I thought I should leave. Now I 've got get to the meet and make sure that Morgan and company made it out of Echo Park before the bad guys got there and … Echo Park!

Ellie!"

* * *

><p><em> "Sarah! Ellie and Devon should be getting off their shift and heading home with no idea that really bad people with guns are looking for a laptop in their general location with no idea who has it! They could already be there! Crap! How did I not think of that! What's wrong with me? I've got to get a hold of Ellie." <em>

"Chuck! Just hold on for as second. Stop freaking out, OK?"

Sarah took a deep breath and let it out. She wasn't too far away from freaking out herself, she noted. Mostly, from still not having a clue what was going on. Chuck 'quick explanation left her with more questions than answers ... and how in the world did he get himself in car chases and gunfights in the early hours of the morning? He was supposed to be out of the spy business because Ellie wanted him safe! If he wanted to run around getting shot at he could have been with her the past few months. At least they could have been getting shot at together instead of needlessly missing each other! She drew another calming breath and attempted to refocus on the current problem.

"I will come to you at the bar, Chuck. Please just stay out of trouble until I get there. Then we can meet up with your sister and Devon and wait until Casey lets us know the apartment complex is safe. Alright?"

_ "Sarah, I'm fine. If Morgan and company made it to Benny's they should be fine. Ellie and Devon are the ones who are about to wander into danger unsuspecting. Can you and Casey please just go make sure they are safe and there's no bad guys lurking at home, and we can come to you?"_

Screw calming breaths.

"You listen to me, Chuck! I've been running around the globe for the past several months with John Casey instead of my boyfriend so that he can be safe, in Burbank, not being shot at. All I've wanted for the past several months was having a nice safe welcome home conversation on the phone, before driving back to a nice safe apartment, finally having a nice safe evening in his very safe, not-dead arms. So there is absolutely _no_ way I am going to go off to the other side of town while you and your little band of old Buymore buddies are gallivanting around with people out looking to shoot you! Understood?"

* * *

><p>She and Casey pulled up to a stop several blocks away from Echo Park and Sarah slammed the door to her Porsche shut. Honestly, she fumed, when she did see Chuck again, for the first time in months, mind you, she wasn't sure which she wanted to do first anymore: kill the stubborn jackass or kiss the man she'd been missing for months. She should probably kiss him first, since kissing a dead Chuck was probably a lot less pleasant than kissing a live one. But then again, she knew if she kissed him first, she <em>might<em> forget she wanted to kill him and in her current mood she was _not_ willing to chance that. Casey warily gave her room to take point, as they proceeded to secure the complex. God help whatever villain happened to show up in Echo Park tonight, because Casey knew he wouldn't be able to.

**A/N I could use some constructive criticism so please feel free to drop me a message telling me how I could improve. What's failing? What's working?**


End file.
